The animal is never wrong….

I saw this quote on Facebook recently from Susan Friedman “The animal is never wrong…you get what you reinforce.  All behaviour has a function including undesirable behaviour.  The question is not “Why is the animal behaving this way?” but rather, “What’s reinforcing this behaviour?”
 
If we can think for our dog’s behaviour in this way, I really believe it would help us understand those behaviours that we wish they didn’t do.  I talk to lots of people who get really distressed that their dog does a certain behaviour, and they think the dog understands this behaviour is wrong.  I hear “they knew they shouldn’t be doing that”.  Let’s just be clear – dogs are not moral; they have no concept of right and wrong.  They view the world as what works and what doesn’t. what’s safe versus what’s dangerous.  As Susan Friedman says, “all behaviour has a function”. 

So the real question you should be asking yourself is “what is the dog achieving from doing the behaviour?”.  “What is reinforcing it so that they repeat it?”. 

Let’s talk through some examples:  Your dog is jumping up on your kitchen table.  Sometimes when it jumps up something is there to grab, crumbs from your toast, a smelly tea towel, or even loaf of bread.  Can you see that the action of them jumping up is being rewarded by the ‘thing’ they get.  Now what usually happens is that you now catch your dog in the action of jumping up, you tell them off or correct them in some way, they stop doing it.  You think they have learnt not to do it.  However you notice that they still do this behaviour when you are not home as you find evidence of things chewed up when you return home.  You now think your dog is doing this on purpose – they knew they shouldn’t be doing it; they are doing it to spite me.  No!  They have learnt that doing that behaviour when you are present is dangerous (there is a consequence) but when you aren’t home, it’s safe so that’s when to do it.   This is smart right?  It’s safe when no one is around so that’s when they do the behaviour.  It gets reinforced because sometimes they win something like some left over food. 
 
Let’s think of another example.  Your dog is worried about other dogs getting too close, so they have started to bark when another dog approaches.   Most of the time, the owner of the other dog will move their dog away (as barking is intimidating) so now the barking dog sees their behaviour as successful.  After a few repetitions they have learnt that barking keeps them safe as the other dog moves away.  Even if this barking behaviour doesn’t work every time, it work’s often enough that it is seen to be successful and therefore the function of barking has achieved the goal of making the other dog move away. 
 
Once a behaviour is learnt then why would the dog change it?  It works!  Behaviour will only change if you consider the function, the ‘why’ of the behaviour is happening and what is reinforcing it?  Only then can you look to change the behaviour.    
 
Have you ever tried to change your behaviour before?  Something that you have done for a long period of time.  It’s hard work and takes time. 
Sometimes figuring out the ‘why’ needs a different viewpoint and not from someone in the middle of it.  I am very happy to tell you when I struggle with my dog’s behaviour, I seek help from others.  People I trust that can help and guide me to achieve the best outcome for me and my dog.  There is nothing wrong with asking for help. 
 
If you have got to the point where you need help and support for your dog’s behaviour and to understand their ‘why’ then please get in touch. 
Jo x